On March 31, CDCR amplified actions to protect staff and inmates
at the state’s institutions by implementing additional measures
to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19. The measures aim to
increase both capacity and physical space at the state’s prisons,
which will allow the department to increase physical distancing
and assist it with isolation and quarantine efforts for suspected
or positive COVID-19 cases.

Current California law circumscribes the authority of the Chief
Justice during emergencies. Presiding judges of county superior
courts may petition the Chief Justice—as chair of the Judicial
Council—for an emergency order to support their local needs.

ADVISORY: Due to the changing nature of directives
related to COVID-19, meeting information is subject to change.
For the latest California Courts news related to COVID-19,
visitnewsroom.courts.ca.gov/coronavirus-updates.

The Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) has set the
dates for three statewide listening sessions so that members of
the public can give comments on separate but related topics: the
agency’s efforts to improve jail inspections and the biennial
update of the adult regulations governing jail operations.

The Pretrial Reform and Operations Workgroup will host public
comment sessions on the use of pretrial risk assessment tools to
further its mission of reviewing and identifying next steps for
reforms to California’s system of pretrial release and detention.

The State Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention (SACJJDP) will hold its first meeting of the year in
Sacramento on Thursday, January 16 at 10:00 am.
The meeting will be held at the Board of State and Community
Corrections (BSCC) headquarters, 2590 Venture Oaks Way in
Sacramento.

The CSAC Administration of Justice (AOJ) policy committee met
Thursday, December 5th at the CSAC Annual Conference
in San Francisco County. The agenda topics for the meeting
included: a discussion about juvenile justice reform in
California, the presentation and approval of the Juvenile Justice
Facilities in California: Report and Tool Kit and a presentation
of advocacy efforts of 2019 and approval of the AOJ 2020
legislative priorities.

Governor Newsom signed 870 bills into law this year. To keep
counties informed of new laws that impact them, CSAC will be
publishing a series of articles to spotlight those laws in each
policy area. This week, the Administration of Justice policy
area provides information on new laws affecting a wide range of
subjects.

The new laws listed below become effective January 1, 2020 unless
noted otherwise.

The Judicial Council and the State Controller’s Office are
pleased to announce the annual Revenue Distribution WebEx
training session, offered to address impacts of newly enacted
legislation to trial court revenue distributions and provide
updates on other related areas of interest. Such as, the pending
bill that would consolidate collections reporting—read the latest
update on Assembly Bill 1818 (Stats. 2019, ch.637) here.

The Collaborative Comprehensive Case Plans: Facilitating
Behavioral Health Diversion webinar hosted by the California
Council on Criminal Justice and Behavioral Health and the
California Department of State Hospitals (DSH), with funding
support from the California Council on Criminal Justice and
Behavioral Health, will be held on Tuesday, October 29
from 11:30 am – 12:00 pm.